ISIS-inspired module: NIA arrests another accused

NEW DELHI: The National Investigation
Agency, which is investigating the case relating to IS-inspired
module based in Delhi and UP, late on Friday arrested another
accused who had travelled to Jammu & Kashmir in May and August 2018
to arrange for weapons and training of the module.
The 24-year-old accused, Muhammad Absar, a resident of Jasora,
Meerut, is a Quran teacher at Jamia Husania Abul Hassan in
Hapur. He had
visited Tral twice along with Saqib Iftekar, arrested on December
26, 2018, to meet a local contact, a Moulvi. The two sought the
help of the Moulvi, who was known to Iftekar as they had met
earlier during a religious course, to connect to a Kashmiri
‘mujahideen’ who could help them procure weapons and also impart
arms training.

The Moulvi connected them with one person, who the two accused met
and talked to for arranging weapons and training. While the NIA has
examined the Moulvi based in Tral, it is still verifying
antecedents of the other person.

Following Absar’s arrest, NIA on Saturday morning carried out
searches at three locations in Meerut and Hapur with the support of
UP Police. The recoveries, as per NIA sources, included some
electronic devices including memory cards.

An NIA official said Absar was arrested as he was a member of the
IS-inspired ‘Harkat-ul-Harb-e-Islam’ module busted in Delhi and
Amroha and “part of the conspiracy to attack vital installations,
security establishments, prominent persons including politicians
and crowded places, possibly with remote-controlled bomb blasts”.
Twelve accused have been arrested in the case so far.

The Kashmir link to the IS module cropped up during the questioning
of mastermind Mufti Mohd Suhail’s close aide – Saqib Iftekar
(26), who worked as an imam at Jama Masjid in Baksar, Uttar Pradesh,
and helped module procure weapons for their plan to carry out
fidayeen attacks in north India.